• America State of emergency in Haiti after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake

After a heartbreaking night with hundreds of aftershocks from the powerful earthquake that killed at least 724 people in southwestern

Haiti,

residents and emergency workers continue this Sunday to search for survivors from under the rubble with very limited means.

Several heavy machines, trucks and backhoes were busy moving concrete slabs into collapsed buildings in the city of Los Cayos, near the epicenter of the earthquake, about 160 km from the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. The 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Haiti at 8:29 am (12:29 GMT) on Saturday, killing at least 724 people and

injuring more than 2,800

, according to the latest statement from the Haitian Civil Protection Service. .

Of Marcel François's two-story house in Los Cayos, only ruins remain. "It is thanks to God and to my phone that I am alive because I was able to tell people outside where I was located," said the 30-year-old man. Younger Job, helped by the neighbors, spent more than three hours pulling him out of the rubble, with nothing but the strength of his arms. "I was on the bus to go to work when the earthquake struck. I managed to call Marcel on the phone but He told me "come and save me, I'm under the cement," "says Job François.

Severely wounded in the head, having been removed from the concrete blocks and broken furniture, Marcel François was immediately taken to the hospital, in shock because there was still no news of his

10-month-old daughter, still trapped in the ruins.

"I thought my daughter was dead. I was crying when I got to the hospital, I had resigned myself," says this thirty-year-old with emotion.

But several neighbors and her uncle managed to get little Ruth Marlee Alliyah François out of the house, four hours after the earthquake.

Marcel and Job François were still waiting for the help of professional rescue teams this Sunday, to remove from the rubble the lifeless body of their tenant, a 27-year-old girl who lived on the ground floor of the residence, who died a few minutes.

Obstacles to rescue

However, emergency services efforts to help victims could be hampered as Tropical Storm Grace approaches, with the risk of torrential rains and rapid flooding, according to the US National Weather Service.

The Health Ministry sent personnel and medicines to the southwest of the peninsula, but emergency logistics are also compromised by the insecurity that has plagued Haiti for months.

During a two-kilometer stretch, the only road that connects the capital with the southern half of the country through the poor neighborhood of Martissant is in danger, since it has been

under the control of armed gangs

since the beginning of June, which prevents free movement .

The few hospitals in the affected regions are struggling to provide emergency care.

Pope Francis

on Sunday expressed "solidarity" with the people of Haiti, saying "I hope the international community will get involved on their behalf."

Many countries, including the United States, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Ecuador have already offered their help with the dispatch of personnel, emergency rations and medical equipment. Prime Minister

Ariel Henry

, who declared a

state of emergency

for a month in the four departments affected by the disaster, thanked the international community this Sunday.

"We want to give a more adequate response than in 2010 after the earthquake. All foreign aid must be coordinated by the Civil Protection Directorate," demanded the head of government, while appealing to his fellow citizens to "national unity." "

Let's forget about our fights,"

Mr. Henry pleaded.

The earthquake of January 12, 2010 that devastated the capital and several towns in the province is still in the memory of the inhabitants.

More than

200,000 people died and more than 300,000 were injured

in the disaster, while more than 1.5 million Haitians were left homeless.

The country's efforts to recover from this disaster have been hampered by strong political instability. Eleven years later, the island continues to undergo an acute socio-political crisis, as its president

Jovenel Moise

was assassinated last month.

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